Research and study into the elements of this Plan started in
early 1964. The Plan contained two comparatively detailed schemes:
one was the Preliminary Tentative Plan of the 3rd Five-year Plan
(1966-1970) proposed by the State Planning Commission and agreed by
the Central Government Work Meeting in May 1964; the other was the
Report Syllabus about the Arrangement of the 3rd Five-year Plan
drawn out by the State Planning Commission and agreed by the
central government in September 1965.
The Tentative Plan set out the following basic tasks:
1)
To spare no efforts to develop agriculture, solve problems
concerning people's food, clothing and other basic needs;
2)
To strengthen national defense, and endeavor to make breakthroughs
in technology;
3)
In order to support agriculture and strengthen national defense, to
enhance infrastructure, continue to improve production quality,
increase production variety and quantity, to build an economy of
self-reliance, and to develop transportation, commerce, culture,
education and scientific research.
The Plan also called for the prioritization of national defense
in the light of a possible big war, actively preparing for
conflicts and speeding up construction in three key areas; national
defense, science and technology, and industry and transport
infrastructure.
According to the Report Syllabus, all major economic indicators
were fulfilled in accordance with the plan. The gross output value
of industry and agriculture actually exceeded targets by 14.1
percent; the gross output value of agriculture was 2.2 percent
over-target; and the gross output value of industry was 21.1
percent over-target.
The outputs of other newly added major products were: 68.06
million tons of coal; 8.604 million kilowatts of electricity; 27.77
million tons of petroleum; 6.527 million tons of steels; 35.901
million tons of iron ore; 2.444 million tons of synthesized
ammonia; 2.0416 million tons of fertilizers; 15.33 million tons of
cement; 187,000 tons of plastics; 3.22 million tons of cotton
spindles; 12,300 tons of chemical fibers; 3,894 kilometers of newly
constructed railways and 31,223 kilometers of newly constructed
highways were put into operation; and handling capacity of the
coastal harbors were over 11.91 million tons.
However, as with the earlier two Plans, the blind pursuit of
rapid development and accumulation actually created a barrier for
future development of the national economy.